And From the Darkness
by fembuck
Summary: While on-board the Arcadia sailing north, Claire's memory returns to her.  Alice/Claire, Claire/Alice, femslash, mature


**Title: **And From the Darkness

**Author:** Janine

**Fandom:** Resident Evil

**Pairing:** Alice/Claire

**Rating:** NC-17

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them.

**Summary:** While onboard the Arcadia sailing north, Claire's memory returns to her.

xxx

Alice was focused on the computer screen in front of her, studying the bio-reading of the survivors still in stasis when the door to the cargo bay opened and then closed. After years of being on the road, constantly hunted and attacked, Alice's hand automatically slid to her hip for the 9mm she still kept clipped there. She then turned her head to the side to identify the other occupant in the room, only to have a soft sigh escape from her when her eyes were met by flowing red hair, and shining olive eyes.

Alice's hand slipped away from her gun and she took a step to the side, moving away from the computer station so that she could perch herself casually on the edge of the desk.

"Jumpy?" Claire asked smiling, her eyes dropping down to Alice's hip to rest on the firearm the brunette had just been touching.

"Always," Alice replied. There was a slight smile playing across her lips as she spoke, but her eyes were haunted.

"How are they doing?" Claire asked, nodding her head in the direction of the computer.

They had freed the survivors from the cargo bay K-Mart had been held in, but they had been forced to leave the majority of the people Umbrella had kidnapped in their cyro-chambers. The Arcadia was well supplied, but the resources were intended for a crew of a hundred, not for crew of over two thousand, and they would not have been able to feed or house those who were still under.

"Their bio-signs are steady and all of the equipment is functioning properly," Alice responded as Claire continued to move towards her, her lips curving up a little when the redhead perched herself on the edge of the desk beside Alice a few moments later. "How are you doing?" Alice asked when Claire tilted her head in her direction.

"You mean have any more of my memories come back?" Claire asked inscrutably.

Alice shrugged casually in response to Claire's question, but she couldn't completely mask the curiosity in her eyes. She didn't want to put any pressure on Claire, or make her feel guilty over something she couldn't control, but like Chris, Alice was strongly invested in Claire and she longed for the redhead to remember her.

Claire turned away from the other woman, focusing her gaze on the stark white wall on the other side of the room.

"There are still large gaps, but a lot of it has come back to me," she began slowly. "I just had a proper reunion with Chris," she continued shaking her head ruefully, though a tremulous smile touched her lips at the memory of seeing his face again while remembering who he was, their past together, and all that he meant to her.

"So he _is_ your brother, then?" Alice asked wryly.

Claire looked over at her and smirked before murmuring, "Yeah."

"You two don't look alike," Alice commented, her eyes roaming across the length of Claire's red hair. Though as her eyes moved to meet Claire's she realized that he statement wasn't completely true. Claire and Chris had very different colouring, but Chris's eyes looked remarkably like Claire's.

"Genetics is a funny thing," Claire commented lightly. Alice wasn't the first to note the difference in colouring between herself and her brother, but despite Chris's somewhat erotic dark looks, they _were_ brother and sister.

Alice laughed at that, and then shook her head ruefully before muttering, "Tell me about it."

They sat in silence for a while after that. Occasionally they glanced over at each other, but for the most part they kept their eyes focused on the white walls around them until finally, after a minute of awkward silence, Alice turned to regard Claire again and forced herself to speak.

"What else do you remember?" she inquired softly, her voice cracking slightly as her eyes raked over Claire's profile, aching to reach out and touch the redhead, but forcing herself to remain still.

"A lot of things," Claire began slowly. "My mother made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. I'm an above average soccer player. For my 19th birthday, Chris got me a broken down Ducati that we fixed up together and I still owned when the world ended. The first time I met Carlos I pistol whipped him. When we stopped being able to find alcohol I took up smoking. And you're the only person I've ever slept with on a first date," Claire continued biting her bottom lip as she looked over at Alice for the first time since she started to answer the brunette's question.

"Was it a date?" Alice asked dropping her eyes down to her thighs shyly as a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips and her heart pounded madly in her chest.

"You made me dinner," Claire replied, smiling herself as she remembered sitting in the sand by the campfire Alice had started on the outskirts of the camp's perimeter.

Claire had approached Alice to thank her again for her help with crows, and somehow they had fallen into a slow, sometimes awkward, but welcome conversation. During that conversation, to her immense embarrassment, Claire's stomach had growled, and without a word Alice had crouched down, dug around in her bag and pulled out a can of beans and franks. Claire protested when she realized that Alice intended to share the food with her. The woman had appeared out of the desert with no more than the pack slung over her back, and Claire knew there couldn't have been much food in there. Alice ignored her however, and set about opening the can before using a pair of make-shift tongs to heat the can over the fire.

Realizing that she wasn't going to change Alice's mind, and really being quite hungry, Claire had finally sat back down beside Alice, and when Alice placed the warm tin in the sand between them and handed Claire a small metal spoon, Claire had gratefully accepted it.

"That night with you was the first time I'd felt like a person in years," Alice breathed out roughly, blinking more rapidly than normal as Claire looked up at her and their eyes met.

"Alice," Claire whispered urgently as her eyes desperately searched the ones before her.

She was sure that she had more to say, but before she could say anything else, Alice closed the scant distance between them and pressed her lips against Claire's. Almost immediately Claire parted her lips, and Alice sighed gratefully before kissing Claire with a sweet hunger that had the redhead moaning into her mouth and grasping at Alice's corset forcefully in an attempt to draw the brunette more firmly against her.

"It's strange," Claire murmured when they pulled away from each other, gasping for breath minutes later.

"What is?" Alice panted. "Not the kiss, I hope," she added, smiling a little though her eyes were steady, watching Claire in a way that revealed some real anxiety.

"Not the kiss," Claire said immediately, stroking Alice's cheek tenderly. "You're just as good at that as I remember," she continued, dragging her thumb over Alice's bottom lip before she leaned forward to kiss her again. "I meant," she whispered, resting her forehead against Alice's, "sitting here with you like this, touching you, kissing you ... I've wanted this since the drugs from that thing Umbrella put on me wore off. I couldn't remember, but I still ..." she released a ragged breath. "Kiss me again?"

Alice wasted no time complying with Claire's request, and the two soon lost themselves in each other again, mouths moving together passionately as their hands roamed, exploring curves that they had known before, but had never really had time to discover in their entirety before life and the Umbrella Corporation tore them away from each other.

"I want to touch you again," Claire rasped before trailing a series of hot, messy kisses down Alice's throat.

"Your cabin is closer," Alice husked. She was half-straddling the redhead and her hips rolled into Claire's thigh desperately when the redhead sucked powerfully on her neck and then nipped at the sensitive, bruised skin. "But we have to go now, or I'll have you here," Alice said quickly, feeling a little light-headed as she pulled away from Claire, putting a small amount of space between their bodies. Claire's hand had begun to crawl up her thigh, and if it had risen any higher Alice would not have been able to control herself.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Claire replied reaching for Alice again, making the brunette smile.

"I'll be able to go longer in a bed," Alice responded, capturing Claire's hand. She was used to aches, cuts, and her bruises having bruises, but she'd gotten more banged up over the past few days than she had in all of the months since Wesker had taken her powers, and she honestly wasn't sure how long she could last if they took each other on the desk or the floor.

"I like the sound of that," Claire breathed out, knowing that Alice was right. As much as she wanted to simply rip the brunette's clothes off and take her where they were, she knew that they would be much more comfortable in a private cabin with a mattress beneath them. She just really wanted to be in Alice's pants already.

Alice leaned in and brought their lips together quickly, then with Claire's hand still in her own she stood up and led the redhead towards the door.

xxx

The cabin door barely had time to close before Alice had Claire pressed up against it, pinning the redhead back with her hips as her lips eagerly explored all of the pale skin exposed to her, kissing, nipping, licking and sucking every bare patch of skin she could find. She had been worrying about Claire for six months, and having Claire so close to her for the past few days without being able to kiss her and hold her like she had yearned to upon finding her again, had left Alice with virtually no defences against her desire for Claire now that she was free to touch her again.

"The girly part of me really wants to take this slowly," Claire began, smiling a little as Alice laughed into her neck, "but I really need you to just take my clothes off and throw me on the bed. I just ..." she gasped as Alice's thigh shoved itself between her legs. "I need you right now."

Alice understood Claire's desire as it mirrored her own. During the months of separation she had imagined a much more romantic reunion. She had imagined Arcadia as a small town, and dreamed of finding Claire well-fed, rosy cheeked from the cold, living in a small cabin on the outskirts of town. She'd imagined them lying gloriously naked, luxuriating in the space around them and the warmth from the fireplace, finally being able to take the time to explore and discover each other's bodies properly instead of fumbling beneath layers of dirty clothes in the back of a yellow hatchback. However, like most things since the world had ended, reality was quite different from what Alice had imagined, and she realized that even if Arcadia had been a nice little town, that upon seeing Claire and kissing her again, she likely still wouldn't have been able to control her incredible need for the redhead.

Stepping back to give Claire room to move, Alice reached behind her to quickly undo the ties of her leather corset, and then she reached for Claire, stripping her out of her vest and then her shirt before reaching to undo her pants. Her movements were smooth and efficient if lacking in romance, though as she dropped to her knees to pull Claire's pants down, she took a few seconds to worship Claire's stomach, reverently alternating between kissing the firm abdomen and rubbing her cheek across the smooth, firm planes.

Once Claire was naked, she urged the brunette up and took possession of her lips, kissing Alice deeply as her hands began to roam. She was forced to break the kiss once to tug Alice's tank-top over her head, but she quickly returned her lips to Alice's as she undid her bra and took it off. She continued to kiss Alice as her hands moved to Alice's pants and unbuttoned and unzipped them.

Claire's boots had been easy to slip off while standing, but Alice's were a bit more complicated, and Claire realized that she was going to have to unlace them before she could slip them off and divest Alice of her pants.

"Your clothes are too complicated," Claire complained lightly, taking Alice by the hips, urging her backwards until the back of Alice's legs connected with the edge of the bed. "Sit," Claire said once they had reached her destination.

Alice sat, and Claire kneeled before her and quickly went about unlacing Alice's boots and pulling them off. Once she had pulled the boots off, Claire's hands returned to Alice's waist and the brunette pushed herself up on her hands, holding herself up so that Claire could tug the tight material down.

A few moments later, Alice was as delightfully nude as Claire was and she shifted back to lie on the mattress, a soft, content sigh emerging from her a second later when Claire's body settled on top of her own. The gentle weight of Claire on her was heavenly, and Alice's hands moved to the redhead's hips to feel her. Her thumbs stroked down the line of Claire's pelvis, drawing a 'v' when they came together just above the thatch of ginger hair between Claire's legs. The touch made Claire moan and shift against her, and when she did, Alice could feel the dampness of Claire's arousal.

It ignited a strong spark of desire inside of her, and Alice pushed up onto her hands. Lifting one hand from the mattress she wrapped it around Claire's waist, holding her securely, and then used her other hand and her legs to push herself back until her back was leaning against the cabin wall and Claire was resting in her lap. Thus situated, she then leaned towards Claire and kissed her heatedly, as her hands started to roam.

They stayed like that for a while, kissing while their hands skimmed over each other's bodies, grasping, kneading and scrapping, until the tantalizing press of Claire's hard nipples against her skin became too much for Alice and she kissed her way down Claire's lightly freckled chest to take one of the rosy buds into her mouth. Claire gasped as Alice's warm, wet mouth surrounded her and rolled her hips into Alice as her hands lifted to the brunette's head, holding Alice against her, encouraging her to continue.

Alice needed no encouragement however, and eagerly set about feasting on Claire's breast. She flicked her tongue across the sensitive pink tip, making Claire's breath hitch. She teased the tender bud with teeth, making Claire hiss, and she sucked it into her mouth, pulling forcefully, making obscene wet noises as she did. And when she had stimulated that nipple to point where her attention bordered on painful, she shifted her head to the right and took Claire's other nipple into her mouth, lavishing the same attention on it, delirious with the feeling of finally being able to make love to Claire properly.

At the sound of her name falling from Claire's lips, Alice reluctantly released Claire's nipple at tilted her head up to look at the redhead. Her lips were slightly swollen from their earlier kissing and the attention she had just been paying to Claire's breasts, and the sight of them sent a shock of liquid desire through Claire. In the state of arousal she was already in, the added jolt of desire was shocking in its intensity and without saying a word Claire reached for Alice's hand and brought it up to her mouth. Alice watched with glassy eyes as Claire then took two of her fingers into her mouth and began to suck on them, lavishing them with her tongue until Alice's eyelashes fluttered and her lips parted in a silent moan.

Claire would have liked to tease Alice some more as it was clear to her that the brunette was enjoying her actions, but she couldn't wait any longer and drew Alice's hand down between their bodies, drawing it between her thighs. When their fingers brushed against her swollen flesh, Claire realized her earlier actions were unnecessary. She was wet, more than ready and Alice would have been able to enter her easily. A little extra lubrication never hurt however, and holding Alice's eyes with her own, Claire guided the brunette's fingers into herself, grunting softly as Alice moved them all the way in.

"You feel so good," Alice moaned as she felt Claire wet and pulsing around her, her heart thumping strongly in her chest, when she felt Claire clench around her fingers.

"Please," was all Claire was able to whisper in response however.

Alice tilted her head up, and Claire angled her head down, and their lips came together in a slow, heated kiss as Alice began to pump her fingers in and out of her lover. Their lips continued to meet until the feeling of Alice's fingers began to distract Claire too much, and when the redhead pulled her lips away from Alice's gasping for breath, Alice kissed her way back down Claire's chest and captured a nipple again, sucking on it hungrily as she brought her free hand between their bodies to begin teasing Claire's clit.

"Fuck," Claire groaned, bracing one of her hands against the wall behind Alice while her other hand moved to tangle in her lover's dark hair, holding Alice right where she was, needing her fingers and lips to keep on doing exactly what they were doing. "Don't stop," Claire panted, feeling her orgasm begin to swell. "God, please don't stop, I'm ..." her voice hitched and then trailed off as Alice's fingers curled, probing inside of her as her thumb continued to stroke Claire's clit, until she found the spongy material she was looking for and stroked it.

An unintelligible sound emerged from Claire and her hips shot forward, impaling herself momentarily on Alice's fingers before she regained some control and shifted back. Alice's mouth moved to her other breast, and when she started stroking Claire again, the redhead could not stop her hips from rolling in time with Alice's thrusts, taking what Alice was giving her and offering herself to Alice at the same time.

They moved together seamlessly, Alice loving Claire's breasts as her fingers drew a constant stream of whimpers and moans from Claire. And when Alice felt Claire begin to clench at her fingers again and again, she concentrated her attention on Claire's clit and stroked harder between her legs. A few seconds later, Alice placed her lips over Claire's heart and a strangled cry tore from Claire's throat, her arms wrapping around Alice, holding the brunette against her chest as her hips bucked helplessly in the grip of a powerful orgasm.

xxx

Claire rested her head on Alice's thigh, enjoying the taste of the brunette on her lips and the feeling of Alice still pulling at her fingers as her climax subsided. When Alice's breathing began to settle, Claire placed one last kiss on the brunette's clit and then kissed her way up Alice's body until she was lying tucked between Alice and the wall, her head resting above Alice's heart.

The bed was small and to rest on it together Claire had to lay half on top of Alice, but neither of them minded the arrangement. In fact, they delighted in the feel of the others warm, solid body against their own. There was a long jagged scar across Alice's torso that hadn't been there the last time they had made love and as they snuggled together, Claire's hand moved so that her fingers could lightly skim over the raised skin.

"What happened?" Claire asked softly.

She had seen Alice heal from minor cuts in minutes and more serious injuries in hours while they were traveling through the desert, and when her hands had explored under Alice's clothes she had never once encountered a scar or any other blemish. She had asked Alice about it once, knowing that it was impossible for someone living the life Alice had been living not to have been physically scarred. In response, Alice had simply said, "Umbrella ... they had me for a while. They did things. I heal quickly. I don't scar. I don't even know if I age anymore." She had said nothing else, and the pain in her voice as she spoke had stopped Claire from asking anymore questions about it.

"Wesker," Alice sighed, wiggling a little against the feel of Claire's fingers on the scar before she settled down and relaxed. "Are you warm enough?" Alice asked.

"Warm enough?" Claire repeated sounding confused. "Yes," she continued still looking befuddled when Alice looked down at her, waiting for an answer. "Why?"

"It's a long story," Alice responded smiling a little. "I don't want you to get cold."

"We should pull up the blanket then," Claire breathed out, looking around to see where they had kicked it in their earlier haste. She was on top of Alice which made it easier to move, so once she spotted the edge of the blanket she carefully shimmied down Alice's body until she was able to grasp it. She then pulled it up with her before settling back into the position she had been in before. "What happened?" she repeated gently.

"That old shack we followed the chopper to ... it wasn't just an old shack. Beneath it there was a secret Umbrella facility, though it was in shambles by the time we arrived. The head doctor, Isaacs, had been experimenting with my blood." Alice shivered as she remembered seeing the trench along the perimeter of the compound and sea of dead bodies in it wearing her face. "Among other things," she continued softly, thankful for the calming presence of Claire's body against her and the gentle hand caressing her. "When I got into the compound ..."

Alice spoke for a long time, detailing what had happened in the compound, and then the mission she had undertaken with her clones before finally meeting Wesker in person in Tokyo and being injected with the serum that had stripped away her former abilities.

"How did you even survive the crash?" Claire asked horrified, tightening her arms around Alice's waist as if she hoped to shield the brunette from her past.

Alice shrugged and then smiled ruefully before drawling, "I'm really hard to kill."

It was no laughing matter really, Alice knew that because for over half a decade Umbrella had been trying to kill her, in addition to her having to face the constant threat of the infected. However, Claire found herself releasing a puff of breath that resembled a chuckle before she buried her face in Alice's neck and murmured, "Thank god for that."

"Yeah," Alice breathed out, sounding almost awed. "A week ago, I wasn't sure I wanted to live any longer," she continued thoughtfully, her voice raspy with emotion as she remembered the feelings of hopelessness and desolation she had been feeling after traveling for months without seeing any signs of life. "Now," she went on, shaking her head lightly before her lips started to twitch, fighting against a smile, "I'd fight until every bone in my body was broken just for another day with you."

Claire watched Alice for a moment, and then reached out to take the brunette's face in her hands before she leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"When we first met, I never would have taken you for a romantic," Claire whispered, pressing another brief kiss to Alice's lips.

"I don't think I was until I said that just now and didn't regret it," Alice replied, laughing a little uneasily. "I know we've only actually spent a week's time in each other's company," Alice went on hesitantly, "but I've come to care for you, deeply. I think ... I know," she corrected, deciding that if she was going to cut her chest open and lay her heart before Claire, that she would go for it completely, "that my feelings for you are stronger than anything I've felt before and, "she continued, drawing out the last word as she realized she didn't quite know how to end her big declaration, "I just wanted to say that. I wanted you to know."

Claire was silent immediately after she finished speaking, and a cold line of fear tore through Alice as she wondered if she had said too much, too soon. After all, Claire hadn't spent half a year pining away for her, thinking about the time they had spent together in the desert in order to get up in the morning. But just as Alice began to talk herself into believing she had ruined things just when they were getting started, Claire beamed down at her before lowering her head, almost shyly, to kiss Alice's lips.

"I'm slightly terrified by how strong my feelings are for you," Claire said softly when she pulled away from Alice's lips. "But for the first time in half a decade, I'm excited by that pounding, fluttering feeling in my chest. As much as I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, I want this. I need this. I need you."

Claire's words soothed the anxiousness Alice was feeling, and as the brunette looked up into her lover's clear, green eyes, an easy smile appeared on her lips.

"So," Alice drawled playfully. "Are we going steady now?"

"I'm all yours," Claire replied, drawing her finger down Alice's chest leisurely, before she angled her head to the side so that she could place a gentle kiss to the swell of Alice's breast. "But my brother is pretty protective. He might pull a shotgun on you."

"I've lived through worse," Alice replied lightly, teasingly waving her hand in front of her face dismissively.

"You certainly have," Claire murmured, stroking her thumb idly over Alice's stomach as the brunette's head tilted down, urging Claire into a kiss.

Alice sighed contently when they parted, and then she took a moment to luxuriously stretch her limbs out beneath Claire's body before softly exhaling, "Do you think if we stayed here all day that anybody would notice? The idea of leaving this bed right now is just intolerable to me."

Claire smiled, but then forced a serious expression onto her face.

"I don't know," Claire said slowly, ponderously. "Let's stay here and see," she continued playfully a second later, drawing a smile from Alice.

"Quite right," Alice drawled. "We'll never know unless we try."

Claire placed her head over Alice's heart again, and Alice wrapped her arms around the redhead, holding her securely against her, and with content smiles playing across their lips, both women drifted off into the most peaceful sleep they had had in years.

The End


End file.
